Psalm 73
I can
really understand Asaph’s opening words within Psalm 73. How many times can I claim to have stumbled
because someone who I believe doesn’t deserve it gets rewarded? How many times have I seen the doers of evil
actually get undeserved praise and glory?
Sometimes it really burns me up to see the ways that the ungodly seem to
prosper.
I can
really understand the long section that follows the opening stanza. It seems at times as if Asaph is jealous of
their lifestyle. They don’t seem to have
any concerns. They are fat and happy
(meaning that they are living a prosperous life). They increase in their wealth. They don’t have to worry about doing anything
any way but their own. It is easy to
feel jealousy towards those people who chose to live their life as thought they
are their only authority.
Then we
get to verses 16-17. I think these are
my new two favorite verses for the week.
What do these verses tell us?
When Asaph struggled with life, he went to God’s house. Oh the truth that those simple verses
unpack! Asaph knows truth is found in
God. Asaph knows that it is in God that
answers are found, not in ourselves. How
many of us – me included – genuinely consider God’s house the place to go for
answers to life? If we do, what does it
say about our quest for truth if we only show up once a week – or not even that
often? These two verses are brilliant in
their simplicity!
Then we
get to the wisdom that Asaph learns in God’s house. God reminds Asaph that the pleasure of the
wicked is fleeting. Their lifestyle is a
slippery slope. Their joy turns to pain
as life constantly falls further out of their grasp. They end up chasing an unattainable dream.
Finally we
understand true faith. God has set Asaph
straight, and Asaph repents. Asaph knows
that his thinking was bad. Asaph knows
that he was not right in being jealous of the lifestyle of the wicked. It is understandable, but it isn’t right. So Asaph repents. Then he gives God the glory. Again we see the importance of humbling ourselves
before God. We will certainly make
mistakes. But when we make mistakes we
should be able to come to God and repent and give Him the credit for helping us
overcome our mistakes.
Psalm 74
Psalm 74
is a great psalm for thought. It begins
with Asaph calling out for help. Once
again the Hebrew people are in national disaster. Once again they have fallen away from
God. Once again they need someone bigger
than themselves to come in, pick up the pieces, and put life back together
again. I feel like I just paraphrased
Humpty-Dumpty!
As I began
reading this psalm, I asked myself why is it that God should be expected to do
anything about it – or us, for that matter.
After all, He isn’t the one at fault for our falling away. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He certainly is blameless when we find
ourselves in the midst of our sin! Why
should God do anything about us at all?
Then I
continued on reading through Asaph’s words.
There are no strong prophets who can speak to the people. The people are rebellious and have forgotten
God. The reason that Asaph has to turn
to God is because God is the only one big enough to do anything about it!
In a way,
that’s a bit of a back-handed complement.
Shame on the Hebrew people – or us, for that matter – for allowing
things to get that bad. But kudos to a
remnant of them for realizing that God is the only one who can right that
ship! Kudos to them for asking God to
remember His covenant even though the Hebrews haven’t lived up to their end of
the bargain.
What a
powerful psalm, especially as a follow-up to the first psalm we read
today. What a power time to realize that
God is the only one who can truly help.
What a powerful time to realize how gracious God is when He breaks into
our life of sin and saves us when He really isn’t obligated to do so at
all! What a mighty and gracious God He
is – powerful to save.
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